Tag: Affirmative

Animal Rights is an issue that advocates have been fighting for tirelessly and continuously as years have progressed. Mercy For Animals is an advocacy group that is on the frontlines for protecting farmed animals. MFA reports on their website that they are there to speak up against cruelty, and strive for the compassion that animals deserve. In addition, the MFA goes as far as conducting investigations in these industrial farms to try to prevent the nine billion animals that are killed there a year.

PETA, another organization striving for animal rights rightfully states, “Whether it’s based on race, gender, sexual orientation, or species, prejudice is morally unacceptable.” Our society accepts eating pigs but not dogs, while they have the same capability of pain. There should be no specific distinction for which species is “okay” to kill. We must remember that our comfortable way of living is allowed to be questioned, and when we finally start, we can make a difference for these animals.

It is one thing to improve conditions for animals, but another to completely abolish their exploitation that humans benefit from. The Animal Rights Coalition
tells their website visitors that they believe that animals are morally entitled to pursue their lives free of human violence.

All of these organizations share a common idea, which is that animals are morally entitled to their own rights. Ethically, species should not be separating whether or not we have the right to kill a living animal. We have a whole war against killing a fetus that has not even taken a breath in the world yet, but we unthinkingly let billions of animals a year be killed for our own personal interests, many not even for food but for entertainment, make up or clothing. It is vital that we have these organizations to protect these animals because if we did not, they would have no voice for their own fate.

A common form of animal cruelty comes in the form of a fashion phenomenon; the fur industry. According to PETA, animals on fur farms spend their entire lives in confined and messy cages. Many of these animals suffer through gas, electrocution, and suffocation methods that are created to be a cheap way of killing them. The fur that comes from China, which is about half the fur in the U.S, is made by skinning these animals alive. These animals suffer for days before dying from either blood loss, dehydration or shock. The tactics used to create fur often include cutting their bones with heavy metal traps.

There is a popular event held in Canada called the “Canadian seal slaughter” that is held annually. This event robs the lives of over tens of thousands of baby seals a year for their skin. Whether it be for an entertainment or selling skin, many animals have become endangered due to the fact that people kill them and brutally take parts of their body for personal gain.

Finland, according to The Dodo, is particularly responsible for fur markets. As of April 8, 2015, a petition has been open to all continents and countries to sign, banning the fur industry. This petition has gained approximately 133,000 signatures and will soon be administered with their parliament.

According to National Geographic, we can actively take other steps to solve this issue by applying pressure to stop these farms rather than trying to ban fur production. It is very ambitious to try to ban the fur industry, especially when we have seen it making a comeback in the world of fashion. Several years ago, many celebrities would campaign with PETA and pose nude, saying they would “rather go naked than wear fur.” Unfortunately, now we see more than plenty of celebrities and models wearing fur every day in magazines, runways, and ads.

There are plenty of ways to keep warm without wearing fur. Many stores carry faux fur coats or cruelty-free fabrics year-round, and this simple solution will save the lives of so many animals

Animal captivity is a pressing issue that we subconsciously support everyday by accepting animals as a source of entertainment rather than education. As the New York Times stated in an article, the US Fish and Wildlife Service permitted the capture and handover of 18 African elephants in 2016, a species that has been reported as endangered, from their natural habitats in Swaziland to zoos in Kansas, Nebraska and Texas.

In addition, the zoos do not put much investment into the animal care that they should. According to The Wall Street Journal, nearly half the country’s zoos faced cutbacks in 2003. It requires more money, and therefore less profit, to provide more human living spaces for the animals. Because they live in poor conditions, the animals can easily become depressed or more dangerous to be around.

Although there are many animal sanctuaries created to help animals, which are places that rescue and help animals without breeding, National Geographic stated that there is a great disagreement as to how a sanctuary treats their animals. They go on to say that activists believe that the real problem with many sanctuaries is that they undermine their own mission they were “meant to serve.”

Many animals held in captivity are neglected after they are no longer cute, innocent babies. The abuse, neglect, and threats that these animals that are captured must go through every day until they die or are killed is completely unacceptable. We undoubtedly participate in this by giving into the entertainment animals bring, unknowingly giving profit to the places that have captured free animals and treat them inhumanely.

All that we, the consumers, must do is encourage the zoos near us to stop breeding, taking wild animals away from their homes, and leaving them no room to physically be comfortable with the unhealthy conditions. If it becomes apparent that a zoo is not providing good conditions, they can be reported to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

According to PETA, supporters of Animal Rights believe in animals inherit worth. Many battle whether or not animals deserve rights by using philosophy, yet this is a social movement. It is not questioning whether they have the same capabilities as humans, but whether or not they are able to suffer.

The Animal Humane Society has publicly acknowledged that some research may need animals, but the main thing that we are fighting is cruelty, that being avoiding any harm that is being inflicted on animals. It is important to remember that many animal rights advocate

s to not oppose utilizing animals for positive things for the community, like drugs safety, yet believe that there should not be any pain imposed on the animals within the process. Although this would be the idea situation, it is not the case in our society. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) stated that over 97,000 animals in 2010 suffered pain throughout testing and were not given any anesthesia to alleviate the agony.

When it comes to education, it is a positive alternative to use animals for something like computer modeling, but AHS does not support the dissection of any animals in schools because killing the animal takes away the ethical aspect of it. This example reflects the philosophy that the AHS supports and strives to protest for.

The Animal Welfare Act, which is supposed to protect animals, does not cover 95% of the mused in experiments. The AWA does not cover rats, mice, fish or birds. These are the animals that are especially defenseless and susceptible to the inhumane treatment of animal testing. Scientifically, it does not make sense to use animals as subject. Animals are anatomically, metabolically, and cellularly extremely different from humans, making them very poor subjects to test on in regards to achieving a certain type of result that will correspond for humans.

From these points, it is clear to see that animal testing is wrong, an unfit way to rely on safety information for humans, and an overall inhumane way of treating creatures that must be put to an end immediately.